Changing Lives
by Lady Suki
Summary: A continuation from after Endless Waltz. Five months after the end, and Quatre is stirring up some things. Read on to see what kind of trouble they get into.
1. Changing Lives: Pro

Changing Lives:

By: Suki

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or anything associated with it. This story was just written for the pleasure of my supposed fans. If you sue me even after reading this, then you will just get a bunch of old pocket lint. Enjoy!!

Spoilers: None that I can really think of...there may be one later on, but that won't be until MUCH later in the story.

Pairings: These will become apparent as the story goes on.

A/N: True to my odd nature, this story just came to me out of the blue. I've been writing it in a notebook since the beginning of this school year, and have finally gotten around to typing it up. Some time in the future of this story, there might be a death. I haven't actually thought ahead that far yet, so it may not happen. Also, there are a few people who I would like to dedicate this fic to. One is my good friend P.F. He's been there for me, and I just have to thank him. Thanks bro, you're a lifesaver in so many ways! Second, two all of my friends who have been by my side through my really long writers block spell. I love you guys!! And now onto my crazy and yet oddly fun story! Later all!

Changing Lives:

By: Suki

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar." –Mary Bryant

Prologue: The war has finally ended between the Earth, the Colonies, and the Sank Kingdom. To ensure that is it does not have the chance to start up again, the Gundams and all information on them and their pilots has been destroyed.

The five brave teenage pilots have been thrown into a world that is not familiar to them. None of them have ever known a time when the war did not rule over them. Now, however, they are forced to live in a world of peace that is so unlike the one they are used to.

Heero Yuy, the former pilot of the Wing Zero Gundam, is keeping a low profile. None of the other pilots really know where he is, and he's happy to keep it that way. In the five months that they have lived in peace, Heero has only contacted the others once. In that one short message, he informed them that he had safely hidden the dangerous Zero System away where no one would find it.

Duo Maxwell, the former pilot of the Gundam Deathsythe, now leads a life he always dreamed of. He attends high school in a public place under his own name. After school and on the weekends, he works at his old cover job at the junkyard. Howard, the manager there, has just adopted him as his son.

Quatre Rebaba Winner, the former pilot of the Gundam Sandstorm, has taken his father's place at head of the family company. His twenty-nine sisters help him from time to time. He continues to play the flute, but not as much as he used to. He tries to keep in touch with the other four pilots, and gets responds from all of them except Heero.

Trowa Barton, the former pilot of the Gundam Heavyarms, is now performing in the circus full time. He lives in a trailer next to his surrogate sister, Catherine Bloom. He has three acts in the show. He performs as a clown, a lion tamer, and as the guy who throws knives. He is currently on Earth with his troop.

Chang Wufei, the former pilot of the Gundam Shenlong (or Nataku, if you prefer), is teaching swordsmanship to students at a fighting dojo. He has little patience, as we all know, so he only accepts students who do not get on his nerves. His top ten students have become guards for high authorities in the political arena.

Even thought these lives sound normal enough to you, they really aren't. How could they be with ex-Gundam pilots leading them?

For the past couple of months, Quatre has been planning a get together for the old team. Read on to see what happens as he gathers up the old gang.

TBC


	2. Changing Lives: Chapter 1

Changing Lives:

By: Lady Suki

A/N: All of what I said in the Prologue stands here. For anyone who hasn't read one of my previous stories, Blah.stands for a thought. Enjoy!

Changing Lives: Chapter 1

I sighed as I looked at all of the papers that sat on my desk. How my father had ever managed to put up with all of this paper work was way beyond me. All I wanted to do was go home. It was a rainy, miserable Friday night; it had been a long week, and all I wanted to do was go home to bed.

"Ana Marie?" I called out.

My tallish, slender, well-built, blonde secretary came into the room at my call. She struck one of her famous "I'm-waiting-so-come-and-get-me" poses, and looked my way.

"Yes sir? What can I do for you?" She asked in her low and throaty voice.

I sighed.

"I just wanted to tell you that you could leave whenever you're ready, and to remind you that I won't be in for the next three months. My oldest sister, Angel, will be your boss. Be nice to her." I said, beginning to pack up.

"Yes sir. Have a good vacation." She walked from the room.

I gathered up all of my things, got my coat and hat, put them on, turned off the lights, and left my office. As I walked down the hall, I thought of what I had planned for my "vacation".

I was going to collect all of the former pilots of the Gundams, and have a bit of a party. I had found the locations for all of the them, including Heero, which was a great surprise to me.

Let's see. I think that I'll have to do Duo first. He's going to be the one who'll take the longest. After all, if I'm going to use his grades as a threat, I have to get him to work extra hard to get him up to speed. He needs a lot of help. After that, I think I'll go after Trowa. Mostly, it's because I really want to be able to have fun after working on High school work for a week. And it would be fun to see the circus again. Then I'll go for Heero. He won't be too hard to convince after Duo follows me, and pleads with him for a bit. Heero was never able to say "No" to Duo. Heh. No matter how many times he shot the poor guy, Duo just kept coming back to him for more. Maybe that's why Duo isn't doing so well in school. Last, I'll tackle Chang. He's going to be the hardest; I can feel it in my bones. However, he'll give in the end, and will come. Oh, this is going to be fun. Well, look out Duo Maxwell, here comes your teacher and guide from Hell.I thought as I go into my car, and drove home.


	3. Changing Lives: Chapter 2

Changing Lives: Chapter 2

By: Lady Suki

I smiled as I looked down at the pictures in front of me. Each one had at least one of my former co-pilots in it. No, not just my former co-pilots, but my truest and best friends. Each boy so different yet so similar. Each had a story of it's own to go with it.

I looked at the one of Heero and myself. I looked like such a mess. It had been taken right after Heero had shot me for the first time. My chest was heavily bandaged, a wrap was on my wrist, and a few cuts and bruises could be seen on my arms but I was smiling.

Heero always did tell me that I was too stupid to know enough to not smile when I was injured. Then again, he was the one who was always blowing himself up when his plans didn't go exactly the way he wanted them to.

I looked at the next picture. This one was the most recent one that I had of Heero and myself. It was taken right after we had detonated our Gundams for the last time. I think it was Zecks who took the picture because it showed all of us standing at the top of the hill together.

Heero looked like he was losing his best friend. He was still holding the detonator in his hand. I still couldn't figure out why, but he looked so sad. Now we have to remember that this was the same guy who was always blowing himself up out in space, so you try to make sense of that.

I had to laugh at my facial expression. The one and only time that I had shown this picture to anyone, (it was Quatre) he said that it looked like I was revealing my true nature. True nature? As if. Ok, well, maybe just a little. I had this look of darkness in my eyes. You know, like when an Anime character is being possessed by some evil thing. Also, I was truly frowning which is not something I do normally.

My happiness is a reflex. I act stupid and happy so that when something goes wrong (and something always goes wrong) it softens the blow for those around me. Like I said, it's a reflex.

Quatre looked as though he knew what he was doing was for the good of all humanity, but it still pained him. Anything that even remotely evolved the death of someone or something greatly upset. In fact, that's what really made him such a great guy to send on missions where we were commanded to kill as few as possible.

Trowa, as usual, was completely passive. He never showed emotions. Well, I shouldn't say never. He really did, only you had to know when to catch him at it. The best of times was when he was looking at Quatre. And now that I look closer at the picture, I can see that he is looking at the blonde beauty. Oh, wow. Again, I was wrong! He's crying. He's crying for the lose that his best friend is going through.

And now I turned my eyes to the last of the pilots. Chang (Wufei) stood looking at his precious Nataku, the Gundam that he had loved so much. When I looked really close, I could see that his lips were moving, as if he was praying for the Gundam.

I came out of my thoughts, and looked over at my digital alarm clock.

"FUCK!" I jumped up from my bed, grabbed my bag, and made a wild dash for the door.

"Gotta go, Howard! I'm going to be late for school again if I don't get my ass into gear!" I called as I ran out the front door.

I jumped into my new car, and jammed the key into the ignition. As the engine started up, so did my CD player. Evanescence blasted through my speakers, and I was off.

"That boy. No matter how late he is, he always has some time to shoot his mouth off. Just hope he doesn't get another detention." Howard chuckled to himself.

At School

I smiled brilliantly as I walked down the halls of my school. Each of the guys I passed held out their hands for a high five. As I passed each girl, I threw her my most flirtatious smile. With every teacher, I smiled and bowed nicely. Yeah, okay, I know. I'm a suck up.

I should be happy. I'm out of the way. No one is going to call me off to battle at any moment, day or night. No one is trying to blow me up. There's no more fighting with DeathSythe. I've been living a so-called "normal" life for five months now. It's what I've always wanted to have. Howard adopted me as his son, I'm working on my high school degree, I have friends who have never seen a real battle, and I'm getting better at showing how I really feel. What more could I ask for? Why am I so unhappy?

I thought to myself as I walked down the hall to my first period classroom. As I walked through the door, I stopped short, and stared.

"Good morning, Duo." A voice from my past said.

I thought for a moment. For some reason this mans voice called out to me from my past. Now, I pride myself on remembering people's faces and voices, but not always on their names. It couldn't have been too long ago that this voice last spoke to me. I knew that I could place it if I could just remember how long ago it had been that I last heard it. Then it hit me.

"Quatre?" I asked, a little unsure.

"The one and only, Duo. How have you been?" Quatre replied.

He stood up from the teachers' chair, and came around to the front of the desk. He had changed a lot since the last time I saw him. He was taller and his hair was different than I remember it being.

He held out his hand to me, and I pushed it away. I stepped up to him, and hugged him tightly. He had been one of my best friends through the war. If I had a problem, I could always count on Quatre to talk to it about.

"I'm glad to see you too, Duo. However, we have some business to discuss." Quatre said, pulling away from me.

I sighed.

"You always were one to get right down to the point, weren't you? Alright, what is it, Q-sama?" I asked.

I sat on the edge of the desk while he sat back down in the teachers' chair.

"Well, my original intent was to come here and invite you to my house in L.A. on Earth, but my plans have changed a little. When I got here, I asked the office to pull your school records. I thought that I was going to see straight A's and a lot of good reports, but I didn't. I was mostly D's and F's all the way down the list. Now, I know what you're capable of doing and not doing. You're a genius when it comes to math and science; you needed to be to be the pilot for DeathSythe. Writing was never really a good subject for you. You didn't learn as early as the rest of us, so you were always a little behind when it came to that. History, well, that was ok for you. The only problem was that you never really paid much attention in that class. English was really good, as it was your primary language, and with hanging around with the rest of us French, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese were all really good too. However, none of your current grades reflect this. Why?" Quatre asked.

He sat there, waiting for me to answer him. To be honest, I didn't know the answer to his question. There was no real reason why I was failing all of my classes. I knew that I could do the work, and my teacher knew it too. You see I'm in a very well known and hard to get into privet school. The only way I got in here was by taking and passing their difficult entrance exam. Howard owns a junkyard, and junk yards don't really rake in the big bucks. There would be no way for me to get into a school like this without a little help. And trust me when I tell you, some of the other students aren't about to let me forget it.

"You know, Q-sama, I'm not sure why I'm failing. I guess I'm just not as happy being here as I thought I was going to be. I mean, the work isn't all that hard and I really don't have trouble with any of the classes. It's just..."

"...It's just not what you were used to. I know. I've been having a little trouble settling down as well. But you know Duo, if you really put your mind to it, there is absolutely nothing that you can't do. So here's the deal I was thinking of. I'll stay here with you for one week. That's one Duo, not two. I'll get you up to where I know you can pass the midterms that are coming up, and then I'll leave. But you have to promise that you'll work as hard as you can to pass. And, if in the end you don't but you've given it your all, then I'll still let you come. Is it a deal, my big mouthed friend?" Quatre asked.

Once again, he had managed to hit the nail in the head better than I ever could. I thought about it for a moment, looking for something that was imperfect with the plan. That was something that Heero had taught me. Always search for the thing that could most hurt you, then try to take it out of the situation. Finally, finding nothing wrong with Quatre's plan, I nodded.

"Sounds good to me, Q-sama." I agreed.

"Good. I'll be your class' teacher in school, and then after school we can go over to Howard's and study. Okay?" He asked, smiling at me.

"You got it, Q-sama!" I said.

The bell rang, and class began. All of my fellow students poured into the room. Some of the guys with other guy preferences stared at poor Quatre, and made a few comments. Quatre, however, didn't take any of their shit.

"Class, quiet down now." Was all he had to say.

And the best part was that he used his really quiet voice that you have to listen really hard for. But apparently everyone heard him just fine.

This is going to be an interesting week.

I think to myself.

One Week Later

I pushed my way to the board where the class scores had been posted. Today was the day that we found out what we got on our exams.

I moved my eyes down the list to my name, whooped loudly at my grade. I had perfects in ALL of my tests!

Wait till I tell Quatre! He's gonna be so proud of me!

I thought as I ran down the hall. I ran into my homeroom, and slid to a stop in front of my desk. It wasn't Quatre behind the desk, but Mr. Hamki, my real teacher.

"Where's Quar-I mean Mr. Winner?" I asked, stepping up to him.

"He's left. His one week of taking over my class is up. However, Mr. Maxwell, he did leave you a note." Mr. Hamki said.

He handed me a note that was addressed to me in Quatre's handwriting. I eagerly ripped it open, and began to read:

"Dear Duo,

Good job on the test scores! I'm very impressed with the prefect marks you received! I told you that you had it in you!

I'm so sorry that I couldn't wait to talk to you this morning. You see, my next stop is Trowa, after that Heero, and finally unto Chang. Do you see why I needed to leave on time?

My party will be in exactly one month and three weeks. It will be in Los Angeles, California on Earth. You can ask anyone which is my estate, but I'm sure you'd be able to figure it out on your own.

Do try to be on time for once, okay?

Keep on working, or I'll tell them to band you at the gate!

Your Friend,

_Quatre R. Winner_"

I read and re-read the letter until I had the location and date of his party memorized. Then I re-folded the note, took out my light, and lit it on fire.

Mr. Hamki just watched me and shook his head. He was used to this type of action from me. He knew that I had been a pilot, and he knew that I was used to memorizing instructions, then burning the paper that they came on.

One month and three weeks it is then, Quatre.

I thought with a smile.

TBC


End file.
